Sheet trimming machines

ABSTRACT

A three-knife sheet trimmer is so constructed as to separate the drive for the knives (one front knife and two side knives) from the drive for the clamps which hold the sheets (e.g. the sheets of a book) stationary while being trimmed. The knives at the stations are operated out of phase, and the moving masses are therefore balanced compared to the previous form of these trimmers where all knives move in the same direction at the same time. Separating the drives also enables a book to be sooner advanced from the first knife station to the second knife station. This being so, there is a greater allowance of time in which to make the transfer, and hence there is no need to rush the book. The stops at the several knife stations against which a book is advanced may be adjusted simultaneously, and the separate feed means which advance or feed the books first from the first knife station to the second knife station and then out of the second knife station, may be opened or spread apart simultaneously either for re-adjustment to accommodate books of a different size or for the purpose of clearing a jam.

United States Patent 1 McCain et al.

May 15, 1973 [54] SHEET TRIMMING MACHINES [75] Inventors: William B. McCain, Hinsdale; James F. Cosgrove, Western Springs; Elmer D. Bewersdorf, Downers I Grove, all of 111. [73] Assignee: McCain Manufacturing Corp.,

Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Feb. 16, 1971 [21] App1.No.: 115,174

[52] U.S. Cl. ..83/104, 83/157, 83/268, 83/276, 83/282, 83/375, 83/404, 83/467, 83/514, 83/519, 83/618, 83/624, 83/625, 83/925 A [51] Int. Cl ..B26 d 5/42, B26d 11/00 [58] Field of Search ..83/104, 157, 268, 83/276, 375, 467, 514, 519,618, 625, 624, 925 A, 282, 404

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,146,650 9/1964 Sarring et al. ..83/925 A 1,267,283 5/1918 ....83/5l9 X 2,482,685 9/1949 ....83/925 A 1,076,726 10/1913 83/925 A FRONT KNIFE TIZI M STATION ii-L E llO Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost A Home y Kinzer & Dorn [57] ABSTRACT A three-knife sheet trimmer is so constructed as to separate the drive for the knives (one front knife and two side knives) from the drive for the clamps which hold the sheets (eg the sheets of a book) stationary while being trimmed. The knives at the stations are operated out of phase, and the moving masses are therefore balanced compared to the previous form of these trimmers where all knives move in the same direction at the same time. Separating the drives also enables a book to be sooner advanced from the first knife station to the second knife station. This being so, there is a greater allowance of time in which to make the transfer, and hence there is no need to rush the book.

The stops at the several knife stations against which a book is advanced may be adjusted simultaneously, and .the separate feed means which advance or feed the books first from the first knife station to the second knife station and then out of the second knife station, may be opened or spread apart simultaneously either for re-adjustment to accommodate books of a different size or for the purpose of clearing a jam.

6 Claims, 38 Drawing Figures DELlVERY PAIENTEI] MAY 1 51975 sum 02 or 18 Inventor's William. 5. M Cain.

James F Cosgrove dorf' Ba Dam m4 Ziakui' Elmer D. Bewers PAIEMEBHA $132,765

SHEET 05 0F 18 l l l I w! l I k 41 I A I; ii) i Inventor? ALL?!w HH wllltam $.MCcurz. MU James FCosgrove fiflmerllfiewensdorf 52 K Dow MA 2am? fi-fitoraee as PAIEMEUHAY] 51375 51,732,765

Inventors Willi 5 M Cain dames F. cosgrove Elmw' D.Bewersdor PATH-41mm 1 5:975

SHEET HQ l gm Inverztors wiuiam 5 Mg i ElmerDBewersdoW 3g Edam pm AM Ziok :FPHrorneE-S James F. Cnsgrove PATENTED MAY] 5 I975 SHEET 08 [1F 18 1-. ii TM lllhll Inventors William 5. M Cain. James F. Cosgrove Elmernfiewersdorf I PAIENIEBH H 3,732,766

sum oe0r1a Irv/eaters Wlilmm. bw M Ccun. E James F. Cosgrove Elmer D. Bewersdorf PAIENTEU' 51973 3. 732 766 sum 10 HF 18 3 W 33 ar nrb A fig: l m.% 51: J .QNN a a zFHz-korne Inventors 0 William 5. M Cam. James F. Cosgrove ElmerDBewersdor .DMM

LT .mfifi 1 i l l I I l llllll l I. l.l lll ll l l PATENTED $732,766

sum 12 0F i8 Inventors WM William flM C James F. cosgrove EimerDfiewerfid s i-Horn 2:448

PATENTEDHAYI 5|975 SHEET 13 0F 18 PATENTEB HAY! 51973 SHEET 10 HF 18 Invenkors Ba M caln James F.Cos

L Eu QYOVB lmerllBewersdor-f e M Zivkud' wort-Lead PATENTEDHAYISIHH $732,766

sum 18UF18 fig 29 450 SC 'lln'ventor William. B. M Cal James F. cosgrove ElmerD. Bewersdor'f 9% Kwfim M4 242K011 a Mg me 1 SHEET TRIMMING MACHINES This invention relates to a cyclically operable trimming machine in which stacked sheets such as signatures or the like are fed through the machine in successive cycles and have the edges thereof trimmed.

Signatures (folded sheets) which comprise books (e.g. magazines, newspaper supplements and the like) are collected into individual groups or stacks and are joined at their backbones (the fold) to complete the content of the individual books. The backbones of the signatures in the collected group may be joined by staples. After the signatures are gathered into groups, and the groups thus joined into books, it is customary to trim each book to accurate size by a front cut, which is a out along the edges of the sheets parallel to the backbone, and a so-called head and foot cut at right angles to the front cut.

The machine employed for the trimming operation is usually designated as a three-knife trimmer, there being a knife of shearing form for making the front cut and a pair of similar shear-cut knives spaced from one another and cutting at right angles to the first knife for producing trims at the head and foot of the book. Each knife has a moving head presenting a cutting edge which cuts in opposition to a fixed knife edge therebeneath, and in the known machine the front knife head is effective to drive the side knives, but in a manner different from the way in which the front knife drives the side knives under the present invention. 7

In a three-knife trimmer as heretofore constructed the front knife has been effective in one cycle of the machine, whereafter the book is advanced to the second knife trimming station for head and foot trimming in the next cycle of the machine. In actual operation it has been necessary to accelerate the book very rapidly from the front knife trimming station to the side knife trimming station between successive cycles of the machine. This need for acceleration has been necessitated by the fact that the hold-down devices for clamping the book and holding it stationary at the front knife station are carried by the head of the front knife for movement therewith. Thus the three-knife trimmer as heretofore constructed is one where the book clamps are brought into engagement with the book at the front knife station as an incident to the downward cutting stroke of the front knife. Release of the clamps is a function of the return stroke of the knife. In fact the construction of the known machine is such that the front knife is clear of the book in the course of its return stroke for nearly one-fourth of a cycle before the clamps are freed from the book, and of course it is not possible to transfer the book to the second knife station in the mean-- time.

There can be no question about the efficiency and satisfactory operation of the three-knife trimmer which preceded the present invention, but an analysis reveals that by separating the drive for the book clamps from the drive for the trimming knives the book can by transferred from the first knife station to the second knife station at less speed whereby the tolerances for registering are enlarged (eg the book does not have as much momentum or bounce at the slower speed) and it is possible at the same time to operate the front on the one hand and the side knives on the other hand 180 out of phase thereby balancing knife motion. Thus, by separating the drives for the clamps and the knives we are able to transfer the book in an easier fashion and to minimize vibrations. The separation of the clamp drive and the knife drive to allow the foregoing advantages to be realized constitutes the primary object of the present invention.

In preparing for a run with any machine of the kind involved, a considerable amount of make-ready is involved in that all operating parts having functions related to the dimensions of the sheets must be adjusted to those dimensions. Such parts include stops and feed belts. Other objects of the present invention are to construct a three-knife trimmer so that make-ready time is materially diminished and to do this by enabling the stops at the two trimming stations to be adjusted simultaneously, and to enable the feed bands for transferring the sheets from one station to another to be adjusted simultaneously through a parallelogram link system.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the three-knife trim- Y ming machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the machine on the side opposite that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a detail perspective view showing an eccentric and a cam and related parts of the machine;

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are detail sectional views of the machine showing certain cams and related parts;

FIG. 6 is a detail view in elevation showing the manner in which an eccentric shaft and-a cam shaft are driven;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view on line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale showing a portionof the in-feed mechanism;

FIG. 9 is an end elevation at the front of the machine;

FIG. 9A is a detail sectional view of the front knife and front clamp;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary elevation, partly in section, showing the clamps and related parts at the first knife stationof the machine;

FIG. 11 is a combined view showing a fragment of one of the feed bands both in plan view and in elevation;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the presser pad and related parts used to flatten the backbone of the book at the first trimming station;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary side elevation of the ma- I chine showing the two trimming stations;

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the supports and drives for the upper feed belts or carriers;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view of the machine showing the manner in which many parts are driven;

FIG. 16 is a detail sectional view of the means for adjusting the upper feed belt carriers;

FIG. 16A is a plan view on the line l6A-l6A of FIG. 16;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary elevation of the hand wheel and gears for making the adjustment to the feed carriers;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of the machine showing in particular the way in which the stops are operated;

FIG. 19 is a sectional view of the machine also showing aspects of the stop operating mechanism and the supports for the feed bands;

FIG. 20 is a detail view of a stop;

FIGS. 21, 22 and 23 are, respectively, a plan, a side elevation and an end elevation of the adjusting mechanism for the stops; 

1. In a cyclically operable machine for trimming stacked sheets such as signatures or the like fed through the machine in sets of stacks one after another: a vertically operable knife at a first knife trimming station for trimming the sheets in a stack along one edge and a vertically operable knife at a second knife trimming station for trimming the sheets of the same stack along a second edge, feed means to feed a stack first to one knife station for trimming and then to the other knife station for trimming, each knife having a head guided for vertical movement, knife drive means connected to the head of one knife and operable to impart reciprocal motion thereto in a downward cutting stroke and an upward return stroke in a single cycle of the machine, and means joining the heads of the knives and configured to translate reciprocal motion of the driven knife head into motion of the other knife head in the opposite direction within the same machine cycle.
 2. A machine according to claim 1 in which there are two knives each with a head at the second trimming station for trimming parallel side edges of the sheets, the means joining the heads of the knives of the two stations including a pair of rock shafts each having an operating arm at one end joined to the head of the knife at the first station whereby reciprocation thereof oscillates the rock shafts in unison, and each rock shaft at the opposite end being linked respectively to a knife head at the second trimming station to impart concurrent motion thereto.
 3. A machine according to claim 1 provided with a set of vertically movable clamps operable independently at each trimming station to clamp the stack being trimmed, drive means for operating one set of clamps, and means joining the driven set of clamps to the other set of clamps and configured to translate vertical motion of the driven set of clamps into motion of the other set of clamps in the opposite direction during the same machine cycle.
 4. A machine according to claim 3 wherein there are two knives each with a head at the second trimming station for trimming parallel side edges of the sheets, the means joining the heads of the knives of the two stations including a pair of rock shafts each having an operating arm at one end joined to the head of the knife at the first station whereby reciprocation thereof oscillates the rock shafts in unison, and each rock shaft at the opposite end being linked respectively to a knife head at the second trimming station to impart concurrent motion thereto.
 5. A machine according to claim 3 wherein the clamp drive means is a reciprocable cross head, the means joining the clamps including rock shafts operated by said cross head and operating links joining the rock shafts and the clamps.
 6. A machine according to claim 5 wherein there are two knives each with a head at the second trimming station for trimming parallel side edges of the sheets, the means joining the heads of the knives of the two stations including a pair of rock shafts each having an operating arm at one end joined to the head of the knife at the first station whereby reciprocation thereof oscillates the rock shafts in unison, and each work shaft at the opposite end being lInked respectively to a knife head at the second trimming station to impart concurrent motion thereto. 